


Empty

by sandinmytoes



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Amputation, Angst, Apocalypse, Blades, Blood, Death, Drug Use, Everyone Is Gay, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Fluff, GamTav - Freeform, Gore, Guns, Homestuck - Freeform, Humanstuck, Implied Sexual Content, Knives, Lost of loved ones, M/M, Multi, NSFW, Past Child Abuse, Past Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Substance Abuse, Survival, Swearing, Weapons, Zombies, Zombiestuck, alcohol use, cursing, davekat - Freeform, lost of limbs, rosemary, smut in later chapters, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-28 23:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16251806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandinmytoes/pseuds/sandinmytoes
Summary: On April 13, 2009, The  unimaginable came true and the world went into chaos. A mysterious and incredibly deadly disease broke out in Toronto, Canada, when thirty two people were admitted to the hospital for severe abdomen pain and none of them went home. It was quickly learned that the disease was extremely contagious and most patients and doctors near the infected had died. Those with the disease were taken into custody and placed in quarantine, where they were to be studied. A revolution began against the government, who were forcing people out of their homes and into inhumane isolation until the outbreak was contained and under control. Everything would be fine.Of course, that wasn’t the case and most people with the sickness  were executed.But now, their rotting corpses walk among the living, spreading their disease to the very few survivors.





	1. Chapter 1

_Sburb_ was a small town known for it’s uniqueness. Every person you’d come across had their own personalities, interests, and mentality– nobody was the same. 

Meeting new people everyday was  just their way of life. People were coming and going, visiting, vacation, you name it. So, everyone learned not to grow too attached to someone you’ve just met. 

However, right now, that is not the case. 

 _Sburb_ was once a lively town, full of a variety of people you could meet, fun activities you could attend to on weekends, beautiful parks and forests you’d enjoy taking a stroll through, and so much more! Nobody was ever bored.

But now, the town is eerily quiet. The usually cleaned sidewalks and roads are now filthy and littered with trash. Stores and homes have been looted of their items,  and now sit with crumbling ceilings, broken tiles, and shattered windows. The paint on the cars has peeled, the tires are deflated, the engines are missing— so much is wrong. No sign of human life anymore. 

What happened? 

On April 13, 2009, The  unimaginable came true and the world went into chaos. A mysterious and incredibly deadly disease broke out in Toronto, Canada, when thirty two people were admitted to the hospital for severe abdomen pain and none of them went home. It was quickly learned that the disease was extremely contagious and most patients and doctors near the infected had died. Those with the disease were taken into custody and placed in quarantine, where they were to be studied. A revolution began against the government, who were forcing people out of their homes and into inhumane isolation until the outbreak was contained and under control. Everything would be fine. 

Of course, that wasn’t the case and most people with the sickness  were executed. 

But now, their rotting corpses walk among the living, spreading their disease to the very few survivors. 

 

 


	2. A Young Mans Birthday

Birthdays are usually an exciting thing for most people.

You’d wake up to a neatly wrapped present sitting on your lap, waiting to be opened, or a slice of cake to enjoy for breakfast.

You’d anxiously toss and turn all night waiting for the day to begin. Finally, your dad would burst through your bedroom door, his trusty pipe hanging from his mouth, gift in one hand, and cake in the other.

Birthdays were to be enjoyed and celebrated!

But things are different now.

John didn’t get any sleep the night before his 18 birthday, but it wasn’t from anxiety.

John was assigned to night duty, where he would stand in front of a locked gate, which was the entrance to the camp, a loaded rifle in his hand, and keeping a lookout for anything trying to leave or enter the land.

His partner for the night shift was Kurloz Makara. Kurloz was a strange guy. He was mute and communicated through sign language. He believed in voodoo and spirits, and is often caught collecting zombie parts for weird rituals.

John grabbed his rifle hanging from the wall and made his way to the entrance where Kurloz was waiting for him.

John approached the gate and took a seat next to Kurloz.

“Hi, dude,” John greeted.

Kurloz raised a silent hand.

John held onto his rifle and leaned back in his chair. He peered into the darkness, waiting for any kind of movement.

Kurloz copies.

Most people were asleep by now, but occasionally someone would walk out of a tent or a shack for whatever reason.

Bored, John examined his fingernails. They were too long and had dirt underneath. He began to pick on them. John tried to remember the last time he washed himself. Monday? No, Tuesday. He reminded himself to take a trip to the lake tomorrow. 

Meanwhile, Kurloz sat still and stared into the night, holding firmly onto his gun. 

John admired his companion. With his wavy hair, piercings, and tattoos, he looked badass. 

Kurloz never said anything, but the way he dressed and looked said so much. 

John knows he’s supposed to be on the lookout for a Jeep that was supposed to be returning from a 2-day trip.

Vriska, Tavros, and Dave had went out, looking for more supplies and survivors. 

3 hours passed without anything happening, so John thought he could take a quick pee break. 

He stands up and straps the rifle around his chest. 

“I’ll be right back,” John tells Kurloz, who was still awake as ever. 

Right as John turned to leave, Kurloz jumped from his chair, rifle ready in his hands. 

There were lights approaching from the trees, and with the loud noises that were being made it was safe to assume it was the Jeep. 

The black Jeep drove its way up to the gate and paused, waiting for access to enter.

The driver, Vriska, stuck her head out the window and yelled. “Hurry the fuck up, Egbert! It’s an emergency!”

John and Kurloz hurried over and opened the gate. 

Vriska jumps out the car and Dave hurriedly exits through the passenger side. 

“What’s wrong?”, John asks, running over to them.

Vriska, ignoring John, tells Kurloz to go get medical help. Kurloz nods and quickly leaves. 

“What’s wrong?”, John repeats. 

Dave pulls a limp Tavros out of the back seat and Vriska rushes to help him. 

“Don’t just fucking stand there!”, Vriska shouts at John. 

John runs over to help out. 

“What the hell happened?!”

”He got bit! What the fuck does it look like!”

John holds up Tavros’s legs as Dave and Vriska try to pick him up. John notices his bloody pants and pulls them up to reveal infected bite marks on both of his legs. 

John gasps and almost drops him. 

Kurloz rushes back to the incident with five other people. 

“Oh my god!”, Jade exclaims. 

”Is he awake?”, Kankri asks.

”No, he’s not responding,” Dave replies, worry in his voice. 

“We need to get him to medical!”, Aranea demands. 

Rufioh watches in horror as Dave and Vriska carry his unconscious brother over to get treated.

When they get to medical, they lie Tavros down on a metal table. 

“Give him some space, everyone,” Kankri says. “and someone please explain what happened.”

“He got fucking bit!”, Vriska yells. 

“No shit,” Dave scoffs.

“Where was he bit?”, Aranea asks.

”On his legs.”

”Remove his pants.”

Jade unbuttons his pants and carefully slides them off.

Just below the knee, was no other than a zombie bite. And another one on his left thigh. 

“How long ago was this?”, Aranea asks.

”Shit, I don’t know.” Dave responds.  “Uh, maybe 20 minutes ago? 

“Good,” Aranea says. “The virus hasn’t fully spread yet.”

”So what do we do?”, John asks.

Silence filled the room for a few seconds before she finally answered. 

“We need to cut his legs off.” 

The room immediately went into panic. 


	3. The Morning after

After a lot of bickering and disagreement, Tavros was urgently operated on with limited medical supplies in a desperate attempt to save his life. 

While this was happening, Vriska and Dave were asked questions about what had went down.

Apparently while searching a convince store, a crawler sneaked up behind Tav and viciously bit him. Tavros let out a loud cry and Dave and Vriska immediately rushed to his aid, where the zombie was swiftly beheaded by Daves katana.

Rufioh, on the other hand, was a hot mess. He had been yelling and sobbing all night, worried if his little brother would survive or not. Horuss spent his entire night with him, softly consoling him and giving him a shoulder to cry on.

Gamzee also broke down when he found out what happened. He almost attacked John, who attempted to comfort him, but ended up throwing a chair at a wall instead.

Karkat was the only one who succeeded in calming Gamzee down.

After all the chaos he endured, John still managed to get a hour or two of sleep.

When he woke up, all thoughts and feelings about his birthday vanished, and all that was on his mind was if Tavros was still alive.

After rolling up his sleeping bag, and checking his braces in a cracked mirror, John stepped outside his shack.

Everything was eerily quiet, and it seemed as if last night was just a nightmare.

John walked over to the vegetable garden, which was maintained by Jade and with the help of Nepeta. He was hoping he could get something to munch on.

Jade was talking with Rose about something that seemed important, so John decided to wait for them to finish before pestering Jade.

However, Rose notices John and calls him over.

"Good morning, John," she politely says. "How was your night?"

John groans. "Ugh, terrible."

"Ah, that was a rather unintelligent question for me to ask. It seems like nobody really enjoyed their night."

"Correct," Jade says. "Anyways, what's up, John? You doing okay?"

"Not really," John confesses. "The whole Tavros situation has really got me feeling down. And today's my birthday."

"Happy birthday, dude!", Jade exclaims. She punches him on the shoulder.

"Ow," John says while rubbing his arm.

"Happy birthday, John," Rose says. "I wish you the best."

"Thanks guys," John laughs. "Anyways, back to a serious note; how is Tav?"

Rose frowns. "Sadly, Aranea says he most likely won't survive."

John knew it was coming, but still aches when she says it. "Oh,"

The three of them stood in silence for a few seconds before John spoke up.

"What's for breakfast?"

***

John quietly snacked on his nuts and dried berries as he watched the smoke slowly fade away from last nights fire.

People joined John, sitting down next to him and watching the smoke curl, while also enjoying their own food.

Dave sits across from him, sunglasses on as usual, and a cup of steamingcoffee in his hand. "Sup," he says.

"Hi."

Dave leans forward in his seat. "Listen, John, I have something to show you."

"What?", John asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Just follow me." Dave sets his coffee cup on the ground and stands up. "C'mon."

John obeys and shoves the rest of his breakfast in his back pocket.

John follows Dave to his shack and he lets him in. He walks over to a cabinet near his bed (the sleeping bag unmade) and opens it. He takes two things out: a very dusty Game Boy Color and some alkaline batteries.

Johns eyes widen. He hasn't seen a gaming device in so long.

Dave blows on the Game Boy and wipes the screen. "Um, Dirk gave me this a while back."

John watches as he turns it on. The screen flashes a bright and colorful "GAME BOY Nintendo ®" and makes the startup noise.

Dave stares at the device in his hands one more time before handing it over to John.

"Anyways," Dave starts. "I know I haven't really given you a real present in a long time, so here ya go."

John looks down at his gift and then back at Dave.

John wraps his arms around Dave, embracing him in a tight hug.

"Woah, Egbert, I already have a boyfriend. I mean, this is suddenly unexpected and everything, considering the fact that you're straight and my best friend, but maybe Karkat would be cool with it-—"

"Shut up, Dave."


	4. Chapter 4

John grabbed his towel and unscented bar of soap that Kanaya made for him and headed out the door.

He felt dirty, especially after handling a bloody Tavros last night. He needed to wash himself ASAP.

John walked over to the front gate, which was being watched from afar.

He headed to the lever to let himself out when Meenah ran over to him.

“Oh, hey, Meenah," John says. "I'll be right back."

Meenah scowls at him. "Where the fuck do ya think you're going?"

"Um, I need to wash." 

"Idiot," she sneers. "Nobody's allowed to leave." 

John almost tripped forward. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"What don't you understand? I said nobody's allowed to leave.” Meenah pulls a cigarette and a lighter out of her pocket. "If you have a problem, you can go find Fef. She makes the rules, not me." She lights the cigarette and takes a long drag.

John coughs when Meenah lets out a puff. "Do you know where she is?"

"You're asking the wrong person, bud." 

John sighed as he walked off. 

He didn't know why, but Meenah didn’t like him. She didn’t like anyone, really. So why did she stop him? If anything, Meenah would've let him go out into the diseased world alone.

Maybe she didn't hate him that much.

***

After searching for fifteen minutes, John finally found Feferi.

She was sitting by a lit fire, cleaning and scalping trout she had caught. John watched as a focused Feferi expertly removed the bones from the fish and threw it aside. She never removed the fins and eyes. No part was to be wasted, it could benefit someone else.

John noticed the bloody spear resting next to her. Even when doing something as simple as cooking fish, she was intimidating.

"Hey, Fef. Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Feferi looked up from her task, and softened when she saw John.

"Sure, John! How can I help you?"

"I was gonna head to the stream real quick, but your sister told me I wasn't allowed to leave."

Fefs smile faded away at the mention of her sister. "Good. She's just doing what she was told."

Johns eyes widened in surprised. There was no reason for a shelter- in, right? "But why?"

Feferi placed the fish she working on back in its bowl, along with the knife. She stands up and wipes the small pieces off her skirt.

John had to look up when speaking to her. She was one of the tallest people here, at least 6 ft.

"John, what happened last night was incredibly risky for the rest of us. We should've never let Tavros in." She grabs her spear off the ground.

"But Tav is one of us. We couldn't just let him die alone."

"And what did we do for him? We sawed his legs off and now he's slowly and painfully bleeding out."

"If it were you, Tavros would be the first one to let you in!"

Feferi sighs and tucks the spear underneath her arm. "I know there's gonna be no way to reason with you, so I'm going to be 100% honest. If you leave through those gates, we won't let you back in. Same thing applies to everyone else."

"Really?" John says, his voice cracking.

Feferi nods.

"Fine." And he walks away.

***

"I was a taking a stroll through the woods with my cat, and we stumble upon a rabbit, paralyzed from the waist below. She tried to eat it, but I didn't let her. I felt bad for the critter, so I took a nearby rock and quickly ended its suffering. It was a hard thing to do, but I knew it was the right decision." Jade nods along as Nepeta tells a story from a year ago.

"What did you do with the body?", Terezi asks, intrigued.

"I invited Equius over to help me butcher it. I wasn't gonna let fresh meat go to waste! Then I used the fur to make me some new mittens."

"Sick," Dirk says.

John had nothing else to do than listen to people tell their weird stories.

Everyone was chilling and sitting in a circle as if they were in a summer camp.

Jade brushed a resting Bec’s fur with her hands, Dirk was sharpening his katana with a small blade. Damara and Roxy shared a beer as they listened on.

"That was a very interesting story Nepeta. Thank you for sharing," Porrim says.

"No purrblem!", she began. "I have other ones if anyone wants to hear!"

"If she says one more thing about her amazing adventures in murdering animals, I swear to god I'll fucking kill myself," Yells Karkat.

“Last night I dreamt that I was playing Uno with Barack Obama." Roxy blurts.

"昨夜、私はPorrimが悪い女の子として私を罰して、彼女の周りに曲がっていたことを夢見ていました。" Damara looks over at Porrim and seductively sticks her tongue out, causing the older girl to go red. “あなたが望むなら、あなたはこの夢を現実にすることができます。”

"Go get a fucking room," Karkat grumbles.

Damara glares at the messy haired boy. "私の全体を食べる."

"I don't know what you said, but I'm guessing it was an insult, so fuck you too."

John decides he’s had enough of listening to this nonsense. “Guys, how’s Tavros?”

Everyone quiets down and looks over at John, who hasn’t spoken since he arrived. When nobody says anything, John stands up. “What?”

“John, Tavros most likely won’t be alive in the next few hours,” Terezi says.

John felt himself getting hot. “And you guys are just sitting here, telling jokes and arguing about nothing! Why aren’t we doing anything?”

“Woah, calm down,” Dirk suggests.

“What do you want us to do?”, Porrim asks.

“We’ve already tried everything.” “How are you guys so calm about this?”, John snapped. “He’s our friend! We’ve know him forever! And now he’s dying and nobody cares!”

“John, we do care, it’s just that—“

“No, stop! Don’t give me any excuses.”

John stormed away, tears forming in his eyes.

He needed to go see Tavros

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations: (slight nsfw)
> 
> •”Last night I dreamt that Porrim had me bent over her lap, punishing me for being a bad girl.”
> 
> •”You can make that dream a reality, if you want.”
> 
> •”Eat my entire ass.”


End file.
